Resilience to Violence

Lecture 4:

Adaptive systems; Socio-cultural systems

Dr. Elizabeth Buimer

Reminder:
Make sure you are signed up
for the exam and/or resit

Which situation applies to you?

I enrolled myself to this course as an elective I was automatically enrolled to this course as part of the minor
student. Violence studies.

You need to enroll yourself for The violence studies team will enroll you for the first sitting of the
every exam. exams, but you need to enroll yourself for the resit if needed.
 Looking back:
Which topics require
further explanation
 Course Overview
Date Topic Lecturer Exam material

Chapter 1-2 (PART I): Introduction

1 6th of September Short history of resilience science Elizabeth Buimer
& Models of Resilience.

Chapter 3-5 (PART II):

2 13th of September Individual Resilience Moji Aghajani
Studies of individual resilience.

Chapter 6-7 (PART III):

3 20th of September Adaptive systems at the neuro-cognitive level Elizabeth Buimer Protective systems and the
Neurobiology of Resilience.

Chapter 8-10 (PART III):

4 27th of September Adaptive systems at the socio-cultural level Elizabeth Buimer Resilience in the Context of
Families, Schools and Culture.

Multiple leading experts

Resilience science and practice as told by leading experts in
5 Online - In your own time in the
the field
field of resilience

Chapter 11-12 (PART IV):

6 11th of October Implications for Action and Future Research Elizabeth Buimer Implications for Action & Future
Research.

7 18th of October Resilience in the Digital World Olga Bogolyubova Scientific article(s)
4
8 25st of October Overview and Exam practice Elizabeth Buimer
Lecture 1: Chapter 1-2
Four waves of resilience science

Variable focused models, person

focused models and hybrid models

The definition of resilience

Patterns of resilience

Prevalence of resilience

The children of Kauai study

Classic model and expanded classic model

5
Lecture 2: Chapter 3-5
Research on homeless children

The design and aims of the Project

Competence Longitudinal Study (PCLS)

The main results of the PCLS

Individual differences in reponse

Sex differences

Developmental Timing

Developmental Cascades

Cumulative risk
6
 Lecture 3: Chapter 6-7
Attachment

Self-regulation,
executive functioning, mastery
motivation and self-efficacy
Intelligence
Latent vulnerability model
Neurobiology of childhood
adversity and resilience
Stress buffering

Double-edged sword

Differential susceptibility / Biological sensitivity to context

7
After
Todaythis
wecourse
will
you can
discuss:
discuss..
the historical and theoretical development in the
resilience field. Objective 1

how early life experiences of violence make

young people vulnerable.
Objective 2

the neurobiological mechanisms that aid

resilience to early life violence.
Objective 3

contemporary theoretical frameworks for the

study of resilience. Objective 4

resilience from a historical, cultural and societal

perspective. Objective 5

the implications of a complexity perspective in

mechanisms of resilience. Objective 6
8
In this lecture we
will discuss..
Resilience in the context of families & Objective 1
friends

Break

Resilience in the context of schools Objective 2

Resilience the context of culture Objective 3

9
 Exam material FURTHER READING

lecture 4
Ungar, M., & Theron, L. (2020).
Resilience and mental health:
How multisystemic processes
contribute to positive outcomes.
The Lancet Psychiatry, 7 (5),
441-448.
Chapter 8, 9 and 10 of Ordinary Magic. Resilience in development by
Ann Masten

This lecture

10
Introduction
 Systemic
resilience
The characteristics of the
wider socioecological
system are essential to
understanding resilient
functioning at the
individual level
Resilience in the context
of families & friends
 Microsystems

• Attachment - One of the basic systems promoting positive

adaptation
• Family support increases mental health resilience in children
(Miller-Lewis et al., 2013)
 How do families aid individual resilience

• Effective families; involved responsive, open and flexible,

connected to community, active in problem solving and providing
age appropriate autonomy
• Reducing, but not minimizing, risk
• Socialize the child to different social contexts
• Roles, rules and routines
• Coregulation and buffering effects
• Effective parenting; authoratative vs authoratarian
 Family resilience

• Communication
• Beliefs
• Organization
 Friendships
Adolescents learn to navigate
the world more independently
and start to increasingly form
and maintain emotionally
intimate peer relationships

Hence, peers may take on a

more important role
 Friendships predict resilience in
2 cohorts of young people
NSPN cohort, N=1980 M age ~19 Roots cohort, N=1238, M age ~14

Van Harmelen et al., 2017 Van Harmelen et al., 2020.

Micro and Chrono system influences

•Friendship and family may support resilience,

but that the beneficial role may depends on:
• the nature
• friendships vs family
• the timing of the support
• family support in childhood vs peer support in
adolescence
Resilience in the context
of schools
Effective schools

• Positive school climate

• Effective classroom teachers
• Reduce disruptive behaviour
• Promote learning
• Engaged students and parents
• Parallel with risk & resilience in families
 Schools build resilience

Nutrition and
Cognitive Positive
health care
development relationships
programs

Increased self- Access to a

efficacy and wide variety of
motivation opportunities
Resilience in the context
of culture
 Culture and its role in resiliene

• “Acculturation stress” can arise from the perceived

difficulties of dealing with cultural differences
• ‘Survival’ of children depends to some degree on
acceptance, support, and investment of the community
• Cultural differences in community expectations and
definitions of good behaviour
 The immigrant paradox

First-generation immigrant youth may be more successful or

healthier than later-born generations
 Cultural niche
Children developing in different cultural niches might be expected
to learn different competences and coping strategies for dealing
with stress, ideas about desirable behaviour, and ways of caring
for their own children.
Cultural continuity in
health services influenced
positive mental health
outcomes in the Aboriginal
populations of Canada
(Kirmayer et al., 2000)

Greg Huszar Photography

 Community attitudes
and resilience

• In Sierra Leone, higher levels of

community acceptance were linked to
lower levels of emotional distress
among war affected youth (Betancourt
et al., 2014).
• Higher levels of social support were
associated with increased adaptive
and pro social behaviours and
attitudes (Betancourt et al., 2010).
• Social support (reduced
stigmatization and racism) predictor of
improved mental health for former
child soldiers in Nepal (Adhikari et al.
2014).
Final notes
 Developmental
systems theory
(Masten, 2019)
• Developmental Systems
Theory: a person’s
development is affected by
the complex interactions of
several systems external to
the individual, embedded in
multiple ecological layers.
• Competence or
achievements depend on age
and time-dependent stages.
Pictures: plan international
 Resilience factors Adaptive systems
Short list of Faith, hope, belief life has meaning Spiritual and cultural belief
systems

protective factors Effective schools Education systems

Effective neighbourhoods; collective Communities

efficacy
Individual level &
Close relationships with capable adults Attachment; social networks
biology
outside the family
Close friends and romantic partners Attachment; peer and family
Immediate systems
environment
Effective caregiving and parenting quality Attachment; family

Wider
Self-efficacy Mastery motivation
ecology

Motivation to succeed Mastery motivation and related

reward systems
Self-control; emotion regulation; Self-regulation systems of the
planfulness brain
Intelligence and problem-solving skills Learning and thinking systems of
the brain
 Resilience factors Adaptive systems
Short list of Faith, hope, belief life has meaning Spiritual and cultural belief
systems

protective factors Effective schools Education systems

Effective neighbourhoods; collective Communities

efficacy
Individual level &
Close relationships with capable adults Attachment; social networks
biology
outside the family
Close friends and romantic partners Attachment; peer and family
Immediate systems
environment
Effective caregiving and parenting quality Attachment; family

Wider
Self-efficacy Mastery motivation
ecology

Motivation to succeed Mastery motivation and related

reward systems
Self-control; emotion regulation; Self-regulation systems of the
planfulness brain
Intelligence and problem-solving skills Learning and thinking systems of
the brain
 Developmental
systems theory
• Recognizing that resilience processes
may take place at the level of the
individual, family, organization, town,
society, etc., has several implications:
1. protective processes may take
place at any level.
2. the family, organization, or society
itself may demonstrate resilient
functioning.
3. These different levels are
interconnected and embedded
within each other, creating
adaptational systems within
adaptational systems.
Questions